The plantar truth
So, I guess this was bound to come up sooner or later. I have plantar fasciitis.It started, of course, with excruciating pain with the first steps in the morning, as it seemed that a rolodex of razor blades wreaked havoc through my heels. The torture resumed after each extended period of sitting around, and came back in the evening with renewed force, turning me into an instant Quasimodo, hunching and limping back to bed in agony.
I am, as a rule, brimming with health, stoic, and not at all prone to whining, so it took me a while to realize that this went beyond "normal" foot pain. I did some research on the internet, self-diagnosed, but eventually I had to bite the bullet and see a podiatrist. The radiography also revealed a lovely 1" heel spur in my left foot.
I got out of the doctor's office with a regimen of stretch exercises, Motrin, and (gasp)...orthotics. Yep.
The damn orthotics cost more than I ever paid for a shoe in my life ($375), though on the bright side, they're never likely to go out of fashion. They do fit in any shoe (they're 3/4 length, and meant to protect my heel and support my "huge" arch). It's going to be a while until I'm healed, but I already feel sooooo much better.
The bad news is that orthotics, of course, don't belong in "open end" shoes--mules, slingbacks, slides, sandals, thongs, etc. The good news is that spring is still elusive and bitter cold in this part of the world, meaning I still have time to heal before I just can't keep my sandals in the closet any longer.
So there, you have it. You can choose to dismiss any of my shoe critiques or recommendations on account that I'm bound to be picky, or you can say hey, if those shoes are comfortable for her, then they really must be comfortable!
posted by Cristina Hanganu-Bresch @ 6:55 PM
3 Comments:
Perhaps this explains your ever so passionate hatred of any heels. :)
Perhaps. But I do not "hate" high heels. I hate painful footwear, and more often than not, high heels are are painfully uncomfortable, with a very few notable exceptions. I'll get back to you on that!
Aww, that stinks about your diagnosis. My mum has very sensitive feet and goes to great lengths to find comfortable shoes that aren't terribly dowdy ... it is a challenge.
Will you need to remove the (bone?) spur eventually?? Oww.
(I'm sending you an email as I write -- a beautiful Shoe Issue from the JC Report that you can critique ...)
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